Family storytelling in the modern digital age

 This post is sponsored by BeforeYou.

I have always been a curator. Ever since I was small, I loved keeping records of memories. I was a stellar diary-keeper and an impeccable pen-pal. I saved everything. I made books and collages and loved hanging pictures in my room. Eventually, I became a scrap-booker . . . keeping detailed books full of photos, ticket stubs, and other mementos.

It’s no small wonder that I was drawn to blogging. I love that I have this space where my kids can read my thoughts and see snapshots of their childhood. I would give anything to read about my mom’s process when I was a kid. I hope that reading my account of our lives will be a gift to my kids, and that it can encourage them in their own family life.

I think storyelling is so important for our kids. It helps solidify their memories. But more than that, it creates a shared narrative about our family. I think shared memories and stories strengthen the bond we have with each other. And science actually shows that kids who know more about the history of their family are more secure in their own identity, form stronger attachments in relationships, have higher self-esteem, and express more confidence in the bonds of their family. Given the unique aspects of my own family, I think that telling our story and a strong connection to that family story is a huge priority.

However, I have to admit that in the past few years, my efforts at telling our story have not been as strong as I'd like. I'm finding less time to blog. I'm worried about privacy issues as the kids are getting older. I no longer want to do all of that family storytelling in public . . . but I still want to make it a priority, just for us. The blog is no longer a place to track our family narrative as a whole because I want to protect it a bit more. But I still want to tell it. Just for my kids, but not for the public.

I also found that I was taking less photos during the process of my divorce. I was sad about the state of my family. It wasn't a time we were making great memories, and I felt ambivalent about family photos since our family had a question mark hovering above. I'm happy to say that I've snapped out of that, and I feel that as a single mom, it's every bit important to memorialize our family. Family photos of me and my kids are a visual reminder that regardless of the divorce, WE ARE STILL A FAMILY.





And then there is just the issue of time. The constraints of being a working mom mean that I have less time for making scrapbooks or even posting photos. And with the advent of the digital age, I find that I rarely, if ever, actually print my photos. All of my memories seem to live on my iphone or in folders on my computer. I don't love that, but I often feel like I'm too busy and overwhelmed to do something about it.

I've been looking for a modern solution to this and discovered the BeforeYou app. It’s an app that allows you to capture and share family stories with your kids. You can create memories around family events, trips, and traditions, and your kids can look from their own device. It's like scrapbooking, but digital. It's a great way to organize photos and video in one spot, around significant family events.

BeforeYou is modern storytelling made easy. It’s simple to add text, videos, and images to your family timeline. They've got prompts to help you fill everything in. I've been enjoying the process of going through and creating vignettes of our vacations and from this summer. If you would like to try it, check out their website, or get the app here. You can also take a look at some compelling research on the importance of family narratives at this page.

Source: Family storytelling in the modern digital age